Pretty little pixelshttp://prettylittlepixels.com
graphic + digital design studioTue, 01 Mar 2016 15:24:05 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8WordPress Concierge Servicehttp://prettylittlepixels.com/wordpress-concierge-service/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/wordpress-concierge-service/#respondWed, 11 Feb 2015 07:25:00 +0000http://prettylittlepixels.com/?p=28You’ve invested a lot of hard work and money to building your WordPress website but you can’t stop there. Just like a car, a website takes maintainence. With our concierge service we will backup your site, update your software and plugins and make sure your site is running at its peak performance.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/wordpress-concierge-service/feed/0Savvy WordPress Training Programhttp://prettylittlepixels.com/savvy-wordpress-training-program/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/savvy-wordpress-training-program/#respondWed, 11 Feb 2015 07:24:13 +0000http://prettylittlepixels.com/?p=25like a pro. It’s time to take charge of your website and become master (or mistress) of your domain. ]]>In this course I will teach you how to learn WordPress from the begining. Whether you have dabbbled with WordPress or are starting from scratch, I will teach you how navigate WordPress like a pro. It’s time to take charge of your website and become master (or mistress) of your domain.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/savvy-wordpress-training-program/feed/0A Summit Like No Other, Adventures in Dominationhttp://prettylittlepixels.com/a-summit-like-no-other-adventures-in-domination/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/a-summit-like-no-other-adventures-in-domination/#commentsMon, 22 Jul 2013 05:08:01 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1693As someone who frequently participates in entrepreneurial groups and is part of an online mastermind, it seemed like a natural progression to end up at the The World Domination Summit (WDS). This conference has been on my bucket list from the moment it started three years ago.

If you’ve never heard of WDS, I like to describe it as the Burning Man for entrepreneurs. It’s a mash-up of entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, change makers and travel hackers, all brought to Portland every July thanks to Chris Guillebeau and his team.

The WDS is no ordinary conference or summit, there are no private agendas or big boring sales pitches. There is just one goal, make your life and the lives of others better. This message isn’t just apparent in the talks given but is a tangible feeling as a member of the WDS community. From the volunteers to the attendees, everyone is friendly, approachable and just open to meeting new friends.

A summit like this provides too many ah-ha’s and take aways to mention them all, however I would like to share my top two.

The first was from our first speaker of the day, Nancy Duarte. She talked about the art of storytelling, telling stories that resonate with people. She shared a graph she created to break down some of the great speeches in our history. The graph looked like this:

She explained that great speeches, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech follow this format in order to resonate with their audience. Dr. King starts by sharing where they are and then takes them to where they want to be (his dream).

I was fascinated by Nancy’s graph, not only in the context of history but how I could apply that to my own life. What resonates with me? Am I taking action steps to get myself there? I looked at that graph as a blueprint to apply to my life and business. Where do I want to be and how do I reverse engineer those steps to get there from my current where I am today? It is a similar method to the painted picture method discussed in Cameron Herold’s book Double Double. Thanks to Nancy Duarte, I will forever look at each goal in my life with her graph as my framework for moving me forward.

The second big takeaway came from a talk given by Jia Jiang on his project 100 days of rejection. He talked about being blindside with the pain of rejection when he didn’t receive funding for a project. In an effort to desensitize himself from the pain of rejection, he decided to go out for 100 days with the intent on getting rejected.

He knocked on the door of a strangers house and asked to play soccer in their backyard. He asked the cop to drive his car. He asked the airplane owner to fly their plane. The crazy thing is they all said “yes” and he realized what if he had been missing out on a lot of life because he was afraid to ask and possibly get rejected.

I loved Jia’s message of taking action inspite of fear. This will continue to be an area of my life that I work on and every time I hear that voice of fear creeping in, I will remember his message.

Going to the World Domination Summit was life changing, however you don’t need to have been there to make changes and shifts in your life or business. Take an honest look at what you want in your life and start listing out the steps that will get you there. No better time to make it happen than today, stop talking about it and starting taking action my friends.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/a-summit-like-no-other-adventures-in-domination/feed/2Something has gone stale, wait it is your websitehttp://prettylittlepixels.com/something-has-gone-stale-wait-it-is-your-website/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/something-has-gone-stale-wait-it-is-your-website/#respondSat, 25 May 2013 19:20:05 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1676This week we are talking about backing that thang up, drop it like it’s hot, drop like it’s hot. Wait, no, not like on the dance floor, must stop listening to rap music while writing blog posts. Let’s get serious, of course we are talking about your WordPress website.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen this scenario play out too many times to count. A business owner is pumped to get their website up. The website goes live, they exhale a huge sigh of relief, cross it off their to-do list and then what happens? Yep, they let it sit there and get stale and don’t look back for months, sometimes years. As a website developer this makes me cringe, I’m talking nails on a chalkboard. I want to throw on my superwoman cape and go into website rescue mode. I plead, “please update your WordPress software and plugins; please fix those broken links on your site.”

I get that it can be confusing and maybe even stressful for a website owner, but it is a necessary part of having a website. That is the thing about websites, they need to be maintained. Kiss the days of simple, static brochure sites good-bye. See ya! Today you need a comprehensive, evolving website strategy, and maintaining your site has to be part of it.

“Why” you ask? Leaving a website unmanaged makes you vulnerable on so many levels. You can get hacked and things will get broken fast. Plus today’s savvy website visitor can usually spot a stale, unloved site from a mile away.

Alright, let me put my superwoman cape back on and explain some some steps to prevent your site from getting stale:

Backup Your Website – Backing up your website is a must. There are a lot of backup solutions created for WordPress. A popular plugin for backups is Backup Buddy. Backup Buddy can be purchased for a one-time fee, allows you to schedule backups, and links easily to Amazon S3 or Dropbox.

Update your WordPress software – Make sure that you are running the latest version of WordPress Software. Outdated software is one of the most frequent causes of website hacking. You can download it on www.wordpress.org or directly within your WordPress dashboard.

Update WordPress plugins – Keeping your WordPress website plugins up-to-date can also prevent you from getting hacked. However, before you install any themes or plugins on your WordPress website please read the forum and comments.

Install Broken Link Checker – The broken link checker plugin will save you time by alerting you via email if any links on your website have been changed or modified.

Develop a Strategy – Constantly be thinking about your site and if something is still relevant. Just because you had something on your site when you developed it doesn’t mean it is still relevant and useful to your audience today.

As a business owner you’re busy. But if you put off maintaining your website today, you will have to deal with overhauling or fixing it later. It’s time to start showing your website some love.

Does the thought of doing the necessary steps to maintain your website still give you anxiety? Do you just not have the time to deal with it? Well I have the solution (insert da ta da da sound here) I am now offering a WordPress Concierge service! Each month I will update and maintain your WordPress software and plugins and send you a monthly checkup report. To learn more, visit WordPress Concierge Service.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/something-has-gone-stale-wait-it-is-your-website/feed/0Help Google, Help You. Up with Your SEO Game.http://prettylittlepixels.com/help-google-help-you-with-your-seo-presence/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/help-google-help-you-with-your-seo-presence/#commentsWed, 10 Apr 2013 22:48:22 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1555Google wants to help you, they really do. They want to shower you with loads of visitors who are looking for exactly what you have to offer. However in order for Google to help, you must have a few systems in place. That is where the All-in-One SEO plugin for WordPress comes in.

It may seem like an annoying extra step to fill in title tags, keywords and a description for every post and page but it’s a step not to be over looked. The All-in-One-SEO plugin makes the process very simple.

In this video I will show you the All-in-One-SEO plugin and how easy it is to setup and get started:

This kind of due-diligence isn’t always the most fun task on the to do list but if you stick to it you will reap the Google benefits.

* Disclaimer – The link above is my affiliate link, I do use All-in-One-SEO and there is a free and paid version. I don’t promote anything I don’t use in my own business.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/help-google-help-you-with-your-seo-presence/feed/4Maximize Your Comment Love with Disqushttp://prettylittlepixels.com/maximize-your-comment-love-with-disqus/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/maximize-your-comment-love-with-disqus/#respondWed, 27 Mar 2013 22:56:16 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1549You pour a lot of hard work, love and creativity into your blog posts for your audience, right? Of course you do, and like any diligent content creator you want to see that your blog posts are resonating with your audience (a.k.a showing you some comment love.)

Nothing can harsh your content creating buzz like a bunch of crummy old spam.

In today’s WordPress Wednesday video I will be sharing with you a couple of plugin solutions to dealing with comments and spam. We are talking easy usability here folks.

The first plugin is Disqus, a plugin with a clean, modern interface that will allow you to manage and block users, add moderators and start conversations within the plugin. Yeah I give bonus points for the clean design. Second plugin is Akismet which will help you block spam from your blog. Adios spammers.

These plugins will help you keep your comments coming and the spammers away, therefore you can focus on creating more great content. If you have a different tool for dealing with comment management or for spam block, please share below in the comments.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/maximize-your-comment-love-with-disqus/feed/0Keep Your Website Link Health in Checkhttp://prettylittlepixels.com/keep-your-website-link-health-in-check/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/keep-your-website-link-health-in-check/#respondWed, 13 Mar 2013 17:01:30 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1538Keeping your website links in tact is a critical part of having a website. Nothing disappoints a visitor more than when you click on a link and BAM! Nothing, nada, zilch. They just got smacked with that 404 error and let’s face most people probably don’t care enough to come back or forget.

That’s why I use WordPress plugins that make my life easier by saving me time and alerting me when there is a problem.

In today’s WordPress Wednesday video I will be sharing with you the Broken Link Checker. This plugin keeps track of all the links on your site, internal and external. Let’s say you link to a post that is relevant to your topic and then the blog owner moves their site to a new domain. The Broken Link Checker will alert you by email that there is a broken link on your site that needs to be addressed.

Not only will healthy links keep your visitors happy but it will make our old pal Google happy as well. Broken Link Checker can help busy entrepreneurs like yourself from having to keep track of it all on your own. Best of luck!

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/keep-your-website-link-health-in-check/feed/0Become a Master of Your Google Domainhttp://prettylittlepixels.com/become-a-master-of-your-google-domain/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/become-a-master-of-your-google-domain/#respondSat, 09 Mar 2013 17:51:46 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/become-a-master-of-your-google-domain/Becoming master of your Google Domain is easy, free and will do wonders for your search engine strategy (SEO). First you do need a Google account. You can sign up for free at Google.com. Once you have a free Google account, go to the webmaster tools page to begin the setup process.

In this video, I will be showing you how to setup your website on Google Webmaster and giving an overview of the tools available:

If you are looking for more information about the other free tools available by Google, I highlight them in my free eBook. Just sign up below for instant access.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/become-a-master-of-your-google-domain/feed/0A WordPress Plugin That Works Like Magic!http://prettylittlepixels.com/a-wordpress-plugin-that-works-like-magic/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/a-wordpress-plugin-that-works-like-magic/#commentsWed, 27 Feb 2013 19:08:03 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1509You write an amazing post, your readers are excited about it but even though you have them hook, line and sinker there isn’t a clear, in their face call to action. Well I have it for you my friends, Magic Action Box.

Magic Action Box is a WordPress Plugin that makes it super easy to create custom opt-in calls-to-action based on the content on your blog post or pages. If you have an article on cutting expenses in your business and then just happen to have an eBook or course that dives into the topic more, create an opt-in box just for that post or category.

In this video I will be showing what this Magic Action Box is all about:

If you are looking for a tool to capture your captive audience than you might try the free version of Magic Action Box. Take it for a spin and create a great looking call-to-action on your next WordPress post.

* Disclaimer – The link above is my affiliate link, I do use Magic Action Box and don’t promote anything I don’t use in my own business.

]]>http://prettylittlepixels.com/a-wordpress-plugin-that-works-like-magic/feed/10Website Fonts have come along way babe.http://prettylittlepixels.com/website-fonts-have-come-along-way/
http://prettylittlepixels.com/website-fonts-have-come-along-way/#respondSat, 23 Feb 2013 00:35:53 +0000http://www.prettylittlepixels.com/old/?p=1490Just like shoes can make or break an outfit, a good font is the perfect accessory for your website design. When selecting a font for your site you want to choose a font that fits your brand, is appropriate for your audience (think size does matter here) and creates a pleasant online experience for your audience (yeah so that means no yellow body copy, please).

Website fonts have come a long way, we have gone from just a handful of fonts to choose from to thousands of possibilities.

First off, when talking about fonts for your website it’s important to know the term “web safe fonts”. A web safe font is a font that appears on a majority of computers and is compatible with multiple operating systems (i.e. Times New Roman is considered a “web safe font” because every computer has it installed.) This is critical because when you have poured hard work and money into your ideal website you want to ensure your website looks the same for all your visitors.

There are two ways to guarantee a consistent look for all visitors of your website.

One way is to make those fonts images, this can be used for unique fonts that you want in your design that aren’t web safe. You should really limit how often you do this on your website because images (images of text included) are limited by search engines and cannot be read like traditional coded text.

The second option is to make sure your font is a standard web safe font, google font and/or a font stack which is created by your developer.

Let’s explore some of these options.

Web Safe Fonts
As mentioned these are a few fonts that are standards on the majority of computers and browser operating systems. There are two types of fonts, serif and sans serif. A serif font has a small decorative line added as embellishment to the basic form of a character and a sans serif font is without that embellishment. Below is a list of the standard “web safe” serif and sans serif fonts.

Google Web Fonts
Google web fonts are open source fonts (meaning you can use them in print as well as web – personally and commercially) developed by professional designers and developers that help make beautiful fonts more accessible on your website. Google started this open source web font project in 2010 and today there are over 600+ fonts available and it continues to grow.

So how the heck does it work? The fonts run on Google’s servers, you can browse the huge selection available on their site and add them to your collection. Then let your developer know your font preferences and your website developer will add a snippet of code into your website and stylesheet web files.

Font Stacks
A font stack is a list of fonts, usually about four to six, that are laid out in order of preference by your web designer in your websites css stylesheet. Font stacks are used because it gives a web designer more control over the look of the fonts on your website pages. If a visitor to your site doesn’t have that one special font that you have your heart set on then a font stacks will dictate a list of secondary fonts for that computer to use that are good substitutions.

Here is an example of what a font stack would like in your website style code:
Futura, ‘Century Gothic’, AppleGothic, sans-serif

When choosing fonts for your website it’s best to talk to your web designer and let them know your preferences. Now that you understand more about fonts you can help make an educated assesment of what is possible in terms of font on your site. If you have been looking to spice up your site, get out there font shop and let you creativity run wild.